Ireland will come away from their opening World Cup game against Australia with their head held high, although they will also probably feel a bit downbeat to have ended the fixture in defeat.
It was a game decided by the finest of margins, with a cheaply conceded penalty ultimately proving to be the difference between the sides. Ireland were the far bigger attacking threat in the final 20 minutes or so, causing a number of nervy moment in the opposition penalty area.
Unfortunately, they were unable to get that all important equaliser.
Vera Pauw decision questioned in Ireland loss to Australia
Ireland played very well in the final half hour of that game, something that came after a couple of key substitutions. Both Abbie Larkin and Lucy Quinn made a big impact after coming on, although some felt that another player should have been given an opportunity in the closing stages.
Amber Barrett is someone that has proven she can produce a goal on the big occasion for this Irish team, most notably in the play-off win against Scotland to secure their place in this tournament.
However, she did not feature at all as Vera Pauw opted to use Louise Quinn as an emergency striker in the final moments of the game.
Speaking on RTÉ afterwards, Richie Sadlier agreed that Barrett could feel unfortunate not to have come on. Meanwhile, Karen Duggan said that the use of Quinn up front is something the team should not need to resort to in the search for goals.
[Barrett] was warming up there. This tactic of putting Louise [Quinn] up front, it's not really a tactic. It's a hope more than anything...
For me, it's not really a plan B. We came out and started playing when we went a goal down. There has to be some point where we're a bit braver than that than we were before that.
We can't always depend on a 0-0 or something like that to go and get a result. We have to be able to break out of that mode and take the game to a team.
That can't be taking out your most solid centre back and throwing her up front. Obviously she did well and we start pinging long balls, but we played with a bit more confidence when Abbie [Larkin] and Lucy [Quinn] came on.
I'd love us to do that without having the nudge of going the goal down and being a bit braver.
Ireland will be hoping that they are not in a position where they are chasing the game during two upcoming group fixtures. If they are, Amber Barrett should surely be one of the players that is brought on in an effort to get back into the match.
For now, they will hold some regrets on the way the Australia game ultimately played out despite their excellent performance.
SEE ALSO: Ireland Player Ratings As Pauw's Team Come Up Agonisingly Short Against Australia
